Valve



Pieienta n is.

. -Ares PATNT- oFr -cs 2,279,593 verve @tis E.

Inma

. requirements are suchthat'a relafively large n: we Log e188,

p lication a 11, less,

e No. szasvs number of valves must be conveniently located at a singlecontrol station so that such large and weighty pieces of apparatus arenot readily adapted for compact mounting in a single control station. Y

For example, many of the functions of modern airplanes are controlled byeither hydraulic or pneumatic power apt the valves for controlling whichmust be located in the pilot's compartment and,-as can be reappreciated, not

only the space requirements but theweight requirements of the valvesbecome an important factor. Moreover, the valves should be capable ofready access for repair and should require a minimum of disconnection ofpipe lines in order to permit such repair or replent of parts.

It is therefore an object of my invention to provide a valve forcontrolling fluid power epchamber and another pipe line or to w ing orthe chamber to both lines selectively.

Other objects and advantages of 'my invention will be apparentirom astudy of. the 10110 specifications, read in connection with the-amcompanying drawings, wherein Fig. l is a perspective view of a valveconstructed in accordance with my invention and illustrateddiagrammatically as being connected .to a z-way'piston and cylinderfluid power apparatus; I Fig. 2 is a verticalsectional view taken ughthe valve illustrated in Fig. l, and illustrating the valve parts'inclosed position;

Fig. 3 is a vertical sectional view similar to Fig. 2 but illustratingthe position of the valve parts upon operation of the valve handle tomove the fluid power mechanism in one direction;

paratus in which the valves may he made extremely light and extremelysmall so as to permit 1 the ready mounting of large numbers of thevalves in a small space. A

Another object of my invention is to provide a valve of the characterset forth in the preceding paragraph wherein the operating parts of thevalves are readily accessible,- and more particularly may be readilyremoved and replaced without requiring the disconnection of any of thepipe Another object of my invention is to provide a valve of thecharacter set forth whichis readily adapted to use in connection withother control apparatus and in which a relatively small movement of anoperating lever or handle is required to open and close the valve partswhile permitting unrestricted additional movement or the operating leveror handle to permit sequential operation of the-valve and other controldevices. Another. object of'my invention is to provide a valve of thecharacter set forth in which a.

permit the ready Passage (ii-fluid between the chamber and onerpipe lineand between the 2-way valve is mounted in a single chamber to Fi 4 is adetail elevational view 02 the operat- I log shaft oi my valve;

Fig. 5 is a transverse sectional view taken along line V-V of Fig. 4;.

Fig.6 is a similar transverse sectional view taken along line VI-VI ofFig. 4;

Fig. '3 is an exploded view illustrating the assembly or the valve partsincluded in one chamber'oi one valve; and

Fig. 8 'is a fragmentary sectional view taken along line VIII-N111 ofFig. 2. 1

Referring to the drawings, I have illustrated in'Fig. 1 a valve iconstructed in accordance with my invention, such valve including a bodymember 2 which may be constructed from a single block of suitablematerial such as metal or plastic material though, for the purpose ofpermitting my valve to control pressure of-several hundreds of poundsand yet be light'in weight, I prefer to form the valve body block 2 froma single piece of aluminum alloy such as duralumin." The block isprovided with suitable ports 3, 4, 5 and 6 (see Fig. 2), to which may beconnected respectively the pipe lines coupling my valve to a suitablesource of pressure supply and to an operating fluid power apparatus, oneform of which is illustrated diatically in Fig. 1 as-ineluding acylinder i in-which '0 rates a piston t coupled by means of a piston r08 to some piece of apparatus to be actuated thereby.

Referring cularly to Figs. 1 and 2, it will be observed that port 3constitutes-an inlet port for fiuidpressure, to :which'may'be coupled apipe line at extending from a slutable'source or 7 pressure supply(notshown). The exhaust port d is similarly coupled to a pipe'line l Iwhich may extend back to the pressure supply or may merely I 2 permit ofthe fluid pressure to the atmosphere. The port has connected thereto athreaded to take any of the standardpipe line couplings orconnectors-such as illustratedat l4. Disposed between the ports 3 and isa valve chamber'A formed directly in the bodv'2 of my valve, asbyforming a bore which extends vertically down through the valve body 2,the uppermost portion of the bore being enlarged and threaded, asindicated I; to receive a cap nut i6. 7 Immediately below the portion I5is an enlarged chamber II, the metal of the body'at the lower side ofthe chamber ll being tapered to form an upper valve'seat ll. Below thevalve seat l3 the bore is again enlarged as indicated at IS, the metaloflthe body at the lowerside of this enlargement being taperedas-indicated at 23 to form asecond or lower valve seat, immediatelybeneath which'is a third enlargement 2|; from which aplurality of smallbores 22 extend into a transverse bore 23 adapted to receive and housean operating shaft 24 by which the valve struc Gigi-t0 be hereinafterdescribed may be manipu- In order to adapt my valve for 4-way operation, as for example for the controlling of a reversible piston andcylinder apparatus 1 and 3,

I provide a second valvechamber bore B disposedbetween the ports 3and5,-this bore con-- stituting a duplicate of the valve chamber borehereinbefore described including sections I50; I la, Isa, 2m and u perand lower valve seats 18a and-20a and small bores 22a. corresponding inY all respects to parts l5, :1, l8, 19,20, 2| and 22'hereinbeforedescribed.

In the valve chamber A I provide a valve assembly, the paris of which.are illustrated Dar-J ticularly in Fig. 6 as including an upper valve 2member 25 which includes a stem 23, upon the upper end of which is-anenlarged head 21 formed with upwardly disposed shoulders 23 upon whichthe'lower end of a valve closing spring 29 may rest, a portion of thehead 21 being formed with a suitable diameter to extend upwardly withinthehelix formedbythespringfltoactasa A guide for this spring. The lowerportion of the head 21 is tapered as indicated at so to mm a taperedseating surface adapted to seat upon the valve seat surface l3 while thehead 21 is undercut as indicated at 3| for the purpose of recap ing theupper end ofa second valve closing A lower valve member comprisesessentially a cylindrical sleeve having an; internal longitudi nal bore34 adaptedto receive and pass the stem 23o! theupper valve member 25andhaving an enlargement of this bore at the'upper' end of the adaptedto effectively prevent leakage of fluid pressure between the stem 23 andthe bore 34.

valve member as, indicated at a, into which may be received a packinggland or'ring 33 the enlarged the enlarged portions of the valve chamberbores.

The lower valve member 33 is provided along its puterwall with aninwardly .anddownwardly tapered seating face 31 adapted to seat upon theseating surface 23. If desired, such seating sur-. Race "may be readilyformed bycutting an antherefore that the u flow of fluid into thechamber 2la. when the valve 33 is open.

To achieve effective sealing between the stem 26 and the bore 34, Iprefer to make the packing member 36 in the form of an annular ringhaving an annular groove 33 extending from the'upper face of the packingring so that the effect of fluid pressure upon the upper side of thering 39 will be to expand the packing ring into snug engagement bothwith the stem 23 and with the Walls of the enlarged bore 35 in thevalve'member 33. This ring 38 may be formed of rubber, neoprene or othersuitable materialand to insure against possible collapse of the ring 38I prefer to employ a spreader washer ll disposed about the stem 26 andhaving a downwardly extending longitudinal flange 4| adapted tohereceived in the groove 33; The upper face of the Washer 43 alsoconstitutes an eifective seat for the lower end of the valveclosingspring 32. The assembly illustrated in Fig. 6 may be insertedintothe valve chamber A through the open upper end of the bore formingthis chamher and will be heldin place by means of the cap parent thatwhen the valve assembly is disposed within the bore or chamber A, theupper valve member 25 will be tightly press'edagainst its seat l8 bymeans or the spring23withthe extreme lower end of the stem 26 of thisvalve member protruding below the lower end of the valve'member 33;Likewise the valve member' 33-will be pressed tightly against its seat20-by means of the spring 32, which bears at its upper end against thevalve member 25. It will be noted siderably stronger than the spring 32so that the valve 33 may be opened by upward movement relative to thevalve 25 while the valve25 is held made by the methods described andclaimed in" my copending application Serial No. 330,752, filed April 20,1940, wherein it is described that the.

valve chambers A and B are formed by providing first a straight borethrough the valve body 2,

alter which suitable tools described in the said q ap icationare'employed to enlarge portions of this bore to form the enlargedsections or chem-- hers l1, IS-and 2|.

Similarly, as described in the said copending application, the ports 3,5 and 6 may be formed by extending bores from the upper face of thevalve body 2 to thedesired depignas indicatedin Fig. 2, and then by theuse of suitable tools describedin the saidapplication the lower ends ofthese bores may be enlarged sufficiently that portions of the portbores-intersect By referring to Fig. 2, it will be observed that thelower 'end of the port 3 has an enlarged portion which intersects theenlargements." or

chamber A and l 1a of chamber B so that fluid entering port 3 may passdirectly into the en- .largements' or. chambers II "a for both of thevalve assemblies.- Also it will be'noted that the lower end of port 5has an enlargement ll r spring 29 must be con-.-

- which intersects'the enlargement of chamber 3 and port time anenlargement 45 intersectin enlargement IQ of chamber A. Thus if valvemember 25 in'chamber A is open', pressure passing into'port 3 will beallowed to'pass valve 25 in chamber A into enlargement is, thence to en-T largement 45 in port 6 and out through portat through pipe l3 to theleft-hand end of cylinder 1f At'the same time pressure from therighthand end of the cylinder I will enter through pipe I! and port andwill pass through enlargement M and enlargement J90. for chamber B sothat if at this time valve member 33a in chamber tudinally into the endof the shaft so that a row of holes l extending radially through thatend of the shaft will provide intercommunication between shaft chamber23 and the bore it to the exhaust port 5. That part of the operatingshaft 26 which is disposed immediately below the valve assembly inchamber A is provided with cam surfaces including a central surface B8,the length of which longitudinally or the shaft is is slightly in excessof the diameter of the protruding lower end of the ,stem' 2% of thevalve member 25. Arranged on each side of this central cam surface 48 isa pair of duplicate camsurfaces in adapted to engage the lower end ofthe lower valve member 33.

Similarly, that portion of the shaft which is disposed immediately belowthe valve chamber; B is provided with'cam surfaces 59 and 55 en--'gaging, respectively, the lower end of the valve member 2E and the lowerend of. the valve member 33 in chamber B.

noted that the next'portlon 50a of the cam surface-filisconcentric withthe axis of rotation of the shaft so that-during the next 120 ofmovement of the shaft-the valve 26a will remain in its fullyopen'position. Y

Now by observing Fig. 6, it will be noted that the cam surface 68 isidentical with the surface 59 but is disposed 120 out of phase with thesurface 58 and that the cam surfaces 49 are identical with cam surfaces5| but are'likewise disposed l20-out of phase with-the surfacebl. Itfollows therefore that-as the handle shaft is rotated in acounterclockwisedirection through the 60 movement necessary to fullyopen valve 254:, valve in chamber A will remain closed since its stem isriding upon the concentric portion of cam surface 68 and at the sametime the cam surfaces 59 will move the lower valve member 3% in chamberA to its fully own position. This is the arrangement of the valvepositions shown in Fi 3.

Thus fluid pressure coming from the source of pressure from the pipe Itandintc and through provided with a short bore d5 extending longitheport twill pass down through the now open valve 25a and thence throughport 5 and line 62' to the right-hand end of the cylinder I, the exhaustfrom the opposite endof the cylinder 5 passing through pipe li and intoand through port d, from whence it passes through the now open valve 88in .chamberlAi and through small bores 22 into the shaft chamber 23. -Itwill be noted from an inspection of Fig. 8 that the shaft bore: 23 isenlarged immediately adjacent each of thevalve chambers A and B so thatthe small that thepiston 3 will be moved toward the left--' Referringparticularly to Fig. 2, it will be ob served that the operating shaft 2%is in the correct position to allow all four of the valve members to bein closed position. For convenience this will be assumed to be theposition when a handle 52 on the operating shaft 26 is in .a verticalposition.

Now by observing the cam surface 53 is so formed that when the handle isin the vertical position the stem 25a of the valve member 251: will restupon the lowest dwell of the cam.

Fig. 5 it will be noted'that y It will also be orved that when thehandle is in the vertical position on the cam surfaces 5| are sodisposed lowthe lower end of the valve'member 38a asto present .thelowermost dwell of these surfaces to the valve 33a. However, withrotation of the handle mem-' I ber 52 to the left (that is. in acounterclockwise direction, as viewed in Figs. 1 and 5), the cam surface5i will-continue to present to the valve member 3311 that portion of itssurface bid which is concentric with the axis-of rotation of the shaft26 while during the first of such motion of the shaft 24 the cam surface58 will lift the valve stem 260, the entire movement between the fullyclosed position of valve 250; and-its fully open position beingaccomplished during the first 60 of rotation of the shaft 26. It willalso be valve chambers.

bores 22 may-freely discharge into the shaft bore 23-, the fluidthenpassing through the holes 51 in the :shaft dd. and thence to theexhaust portfl;

With the valve in this position it, is apparent hand end of the cylinderland may be stopped in any intermediate position merely by restorlug-theoperating handle 52V to its vertical position which. will accomplish theclosure of the valve 25a and valve.- 83, looking the hydraulic system ina stationary condition.v

' Similarly movement of the handle -52 in a clockwise direction will, byreason of the shape and location ofthe cam surfaces on theshaft id asheretofore described, cause the opening of valve 25 in chamber A and theopening of valve 83a in chamber B, thus permitting-pressure fluid inthrough the port 8 through thE pipe m 3 now open valve 25 and throughpestfi into pipe line 68: to the letf-hand end of the cylinder,

where the exhaust from the right-hand end of n the cylinder passesthrough pipe 82, port 5, now open valve 334:, and through the smallbores 22a into the shaft bore '23. To permit the fluid exhausted throughthe small holes 22a to -pass to the exhaust port-, I prefer to provide agrooved or flattened portion 531m the. part of the shaft 25 which isdisposed between the cam surfaces 83 and 58. Thus the fluid may passalong the shaft v 2c and through the holes 4! and thence to the exhaustport 8.

To facilitate the-construction of my valve, I prefer to provide apair ofbores 5| and 55 aligned respectively with the bores constituting thechamhers a and B, which bores 54 and 55. may be made sufficiently largein diameter to readily admit thedfllllllg tools required to drill themul tiplicity of small bores 22 and 22a in each of'the In formingsuch-bores 54 and 55, I prefer to allow the drill to penetrate into thevalve block 2 a sumcient distan e to come flush 4 V with or just passbeyond the upperside-of the longitudinal shaft bore 23 so that asubstantially ready drilling of the small bores 22 and 22a. The bores 54and 55 may then be plugged as by using cap screws 51 and 58 threadedinto the bores 54 and 55 and sealed therein bymeans of suitable passageof. fluid from the valve 33ato the exhaust port I.

Another feature of my valve is that of providing for relatively simplemachining operations by which all parts of the'valve may-be con-'structed and to this. end I employ-as the valve operating shaft 2! asimple length of round metal stock and form the cam surfaces thereon insuch manner-that the original round stock constitutes flat surface 56 isformed immediately at the end of each of the valve chambers A and B to.permit the bearing surface which will rotatably bear upon the interiorsurfaces of a simple drilled hole extending from the right-hand end ofmy.

'valve, as viewed in Fig. .2, to a point 8| spaced slightly to the leftbf the lower end of the valve chamber A. Thus a multiplicity ofexcellent bearingsurfaces are" provided in the bore "for rqtatablymounting the shaft 24 and yet provides for the ready passage of thefluid from the exterior of the shaft to the interior thereof at that endof the shaft immediately adjacent; the

exhaustportl.

.The shaft :4 may be held in place 'Qithin the valve block 2 as byproviding "a washer member 3 atthe right-hand end of the shaft'which maybe'readily attached to the right-hand end surface of the block 2 bymeans of suitable screws 64. The washer 63 is provided with a small bore65 through which the extreme or handle end of the shaft 24 may projectwhile a shoulder 60 maybe formed upon the shaft 24 to abut either theinner surface of the washer or a corresponding shoulder 61 formed in'the washer' 63. The shaft may bereadily packed .against leakage as byproviding an enlarged portion 68 of theshaft bore 23- immediatelyadjacent-the right-hand end of the block 2 and into which may be pressedan annular packing ring 89 of rubber, neoprene or other suitablematerial,

' such ring 69, like the packing rings 36, being provided with anannular groove upon their inner faces which will permit fluid pressureto expand thering into tight sealing relation with the shaft and withthe block 2. Again to prevent collapse of such ring, an annular ring llof metal may b provided to be received in the groove of thepacking'ringfl. Itwill beapparent from the foregoing description that myvalve may be readily constructed boring operations while the arrangementof the intersecting enlargements of the various bores provides for theintercommunicating passages between-the ports and thevalve chambers.Moreover, such arrangement permits the. ports 5 also be arranged'in thesame straight line whereby the entire of the block 2 may :be

made eirtremely small. The only limit to be placed upon-this thicknessis to insure an adequate thickness of wall betweenthe sidesurfaces ofthe valve blockand the largest portion ll of the valve chamber. By.actual test' a valve capable of handling 1000 pounds per square inchpressure maybe made by employing my construction, with a total thicknessof one inch, a

total height of two inches and a total length of three inches. Moreover,it .will be noted that all of the ports 3, I, I and i as well as thebores through the block for the reception of the valve assemblies andthe shaft are all made from the narrow edge faces of the block, leavingthe 'two side surfaces of the valve entirely free from openings or otherpossible obstructions and thus permitting these valves to be assembledone immediately against the other without interfering with ready accessto all of the valve parts and without interfering with the readyconnection of pipelines to the various ports. This shape andconstruction also permits the ready mounting of the valves as by meansof screws, bolts, rods or the like extending through suitable mountingopenings II which may extend transversely through the block 2 and may bedisposed as illustrated in Fig. 2 through portions of the block notintersected by thevarious shaft chamber bores and fluid port bores.

A further advantage of my valve lies in the fact that all of theoperating parts of the valve are accessible without disconnection of'any of the'pipe lines since all that is required 'to remove, repair andreplace any of the valve parts is to remove the cap screws Ii, whereuponthe entire valve assembly shown in Fig. I can be bodily removed from thevalve and a new assembly or such new parts as may be required may beinserted. Also the shaft may be readily removed without disconnection ofany of the.

vfurthermovement of the handle through the remaining portions of 180'from the vertical causes no, further change in the positionof thevalves.

This is of great importance incertain types of controls, particularlyfor airplanes, wherein by 'with'a series'of relatively simple drillingand n and i to be arranged in a straight line with A respect to eachotherwhile the valve bores may interconnecting the handles or shafts ofseveral 'of these valves with a lever or connecting bar,

one valve may be i. Jly opened during a small amount of movement of theconnecting bar, while another valve may-be opened by a further movementof the bar, and another valve may bev opened by a still further movementof the bar.

permitting at-least three valves to be operated in'- complete operaadesired sequence and insuring tion of. each of the valves.

Also in connection with on operation of bomb release mechanism, thevalves may-be readily employed on a single operating bar or leverwhereby the initial movement or the level will open the bomb compartmentdoors, anotherportion of the operation of the lever or' bar may beutilized to control asecond valve to lower the bores, valve bar' maytrip the bomb release deflned in the appended claims.

v 2,579,003 structed of such materials as duralumin" and employed withvalve members of steel or similar metal, it will be apparent to thoseskilled in this art that separatevalve seats may be formed as inserts tobe placed within the valve bores to constitute the actual seatingsurfaces upon which the valve members may rest. While I have shown anddescribed the pre tending transversely below and communicating with thelower end of said valve chamber bore, anda valve assembly in said valvechamber bore including in progressively spaced relation from saidsurface a cap for the upper end of said bore, a spring engaging saidcap, an upper valve seated upon said first seat and held thereon by saidferred embodiment of my invention, I do not desire to be limited to anyof the details of con struction shown or described herein, except asspring, a second spring engaging said upper valve, a second valve seatedupon said second seat and heldthereon by said second spring, said secondvalve having a cylindrical portion extending through the lowermostcylindrical portion of saidvalve chamber bore and into said shaft bore,and a stem on said first valve extending through said second valve andinto said shaft here.

longitudinal movement relative to said bore, the

uppermost of said valves having an operating stem extending through andprojecting beyond the lower of said valves, an operating shaft extendinginto said body member and disposed for rotation about an axisintersecting the axis of said valve chamber bore, and means on saidshaft for independently engagin said lower valve and the stem of saidupper valve for independently and selectively lifting said valves fromsaid seats by rotation of saidshaft.

2. In a fluid control valve, a body member, a

valve chamber bore extending from one of-said body member, a pair ofvalve seats arranged in spaced relation along said bore, fluid passagescommunicating with said bore one disposed between said surface and saidflrstseat,

another disposed between said seats and another beyond said second seat,a pair of valves one foreachofsaidseatsdisposedinsaidchamber forlongitudinal movement relative to said bore,

the uppermost of said valves having an operating stem extending throughand projecting beyond the lower of said valves, an operating shaftextending'into said body member and dis;- posed for rotation about anaxis intersecting theaxisofsaid valve chamber bore, and cammeans on saidshaft for independently engaging said lower valveand the stem. of saidupper valve for independently lifting said valves from'their seats uponrotation ofsaidshaft, said cam means including a portion extending forafew degrees of angle-about the axis of-said shaft for'liftingsaidvalves and the remaining portion of said axis' of rotation of saidshaft, whereby movement valve chamber bore, an operating shaft in saidshaft bore, means on said shaft for. independently engaging and liftingeither of said valves from itsseat, a fluid port bore'extendingfrom'said surface and parallel to the longitudinal axis of v said valvechamber bore, means intercommunieating saidfluid port bore and saidvalve chamber bore between said surface and said first valve seat, asecond fluid port bore extending from j said surface and parallel to theaxis of said valve chamber bore, means intercomm lnicating said secondfluid port here with said .valve chamber bore between said two seats, athird fluid port bore extending in axial alignment with said shaft boreand communicating therewith, and means extending through said shaft andintercommunicating said valve chamber bore and said last named fluidport bore for passing fluid there 5. In a fluid control valve, a bodymember, a pair. of valve chamber bores extending from one surface ofsaid body member-and in parallel spaced relation to each other, each ofsaid valve chambers including a pair of valve seats disposed-inlongitudinally spaced relation therealon'g. a fluid port bore extendingfrom said A to said valve chamber bores, one dispoud beside one of saidvalve chamber bores, the other dis-'cammeansbeingdisposedconcentricwiththeofsaldshaftthrongharelativelysmallanglewill open said valves and furtherrotation of said shaftwlllbeineifectivetomovesaidvalves.

' 3.Inafluidcontrolvalve,abodymember,a

valvechamberboreextendingfromonesurfaceofsaidbodymemberandincludinginprog'ressively-spaced relation from saidsurface a portion of one diameter, an enlargement'of said thirdenlargement of said bore, a cylindrlcalportion of mailer-diameterextending below said third enlargement, an operatingshaftbore exand theupper'valve in pomd besidethe other of said valve chamber bores, fluid emeans intercommunicating said fluid port bores and their adjacent valvechamber boresbetween the valve seats of that bore, a fourth fluid portbore extending.in a direction transverse to and intersecting the lowerends of both of said valve chamber bores, a valve assembly in each ofsaid valve chamber bores including an upper valveengaging saidupper seatand a lower valve engagingsaid lower seat, and operating means for saidvalves extending into said fourth fluid port bore .for simultaneouslylifting the upper valve in one of said chamber bores and the lower valvein the other of said chamber bores'and for simultaneously lifts ing thelower valve in said flrstvalve chamber the second chamber.

OTIS C. MARTIN.

